Oh, that looks much better with @Simon's image. On my IE8 (hahahahaha, oh self-deprecation, and naturally not going to be a problem for Apple users), it looks... actually quite horrendous, so I was for the longest time wondering why one would ever want it...
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Grace Note♦Feb 7 '11 at 15:56

2 Answers
2

No. The update to AskDifferent makes <kbd>-enclosed things look like Apple keys, which is fine for an Apple site, but shouldn't replace the default network-wide.

The new one is pretty, I'll give you that... but the goal isn't to make something that looks exactly like a real key on a real keyboard. The goal is to effectively communicate that the text is supposed to represent a keyboard key. Function should trump aesthetics here.

So you think I should ask different? :P
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nyuszika7hFeb 7 '11 at 16:11

Upvoted. Sometimes function should prevail over form. It's ugly, but defines better what a key is
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Thomas JoulinFeb 7 '11 at 16:20

1

Can anyone give any example of a keyboard that looks like the current rendering? Even Microsoft's on-screen keyboard shows rounded keys: vista, 7?
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ArjanFeb 7 '11 at 16:36

@Arjan My old keyboards definitely do. My current DELL keyboard is close with the same shape of keys, but it's black with white text. It strikes me as quicker to understand, much like the fact that "Save" icons are still floppy disks.
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Grace Note♦Feb 7 '11 at 16:40

Just to be sure, @Grace: we're talking about this rendering, right? (Chrome on a Mac; not much different, if at all, on my other browsers.)
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ArjanFeb 7 '11 at 16:44

@Arjan Yes, quite. The R-9DH has a shinier interface not unlike the Mac, but this keyboard here definitely looks like a white-on-black version of that.
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Grace Note♦Feb 7 '11 at 16:46

1

I didn't say it looked like a key; I said that it was clear what it's supposed to represent. I mean, have you ever actually seen this through binoculars?
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Pops♦Feb 7 '11 at 17:30

1

@PopularDemand you took the words out of my mouth.
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Jin♦Feb 7 '11 at 17:36

To me, the current rendering denoting a keyboard is really only clear because of the text inside it. And I hardly ever need that formatting to understand the context. But, it does make my eyes sad. ;-)
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ArjanFeb 7 '11 at 17:56

I didn't downvote, but the tactile feedback that's most important to me is the little bumps on F and J. I'm used to the "chiclet" keyboard and find the amount of travel in the keys sufficient to determine if I have pressed them or not. My keyboard has several qualities I find desirable: it's durable, thin, and quiet. Those are objective qualities that make it arguably better. Keyboard preference is subjective.
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ghoppeMay 14 '12 at 19:07